Dwight Opperman, former West Publishing chief, dies at 89

Dwight Opperman, who took one of the leading publishers of law books into the digital age and grew the Twin Cities company dramatically, has died. He was 89.

Opperman became president of the then-St. Paul-based West Publishing Co. in 1968 and is credited with pushing the company into delivering its services electronically -- most notably by creating Westlaw, now a major online legal research service.

"The thing that really made West rich and big was electronic data and retrieval," John Nasseff, a former West executive and friend of Opperman's, said Thursday. Opperman had to convince a reluctant board of directors to stay the course on Westlaw in the 1970s.

"He fought for it, and he got that through," Nasseff said. "That was his baby. It made the company what it was when we sold it."

West Publishing is now a division of Thomson Reuters, with more than 6,000 employees located on a large campus in Eagan. Thomson Reuters bought the company in 1996 for $3.4 billion.

"Dwight's great vision and dedication to our legal business was matched by his unwavering passion for the rule of law and service to the bench and bar," Thomson Reuters said in a statement. "The employees of Thomson Reuters extend our thoughts and condolences to the Opperman family at this time."

"Dwight has long been a committed friend and supporter not only of the Supreme Court but of the Federal Judiciary as a whole," Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts Jr.

Advertisement

said in a statement Thursday. Roberts said the Court was deeply saddened to hear of Opperman's passing.

Opperman, who had lived in Dellwood, Minn., grew up poor in Iowa. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II before attending Drake University's Law School, graduating in 1951. After getting his law degree, he started as an editor at West Publishing and held that position for 10 years before starting to move up through the ranks at West's downtown St. Paul offices.

"He was so poor that he'd walk to work in the morning and then take a street car home at night. He couldn't afford it both ways," Nasseff said.

Opperman's wife, Jeanice, died in 1993. He married Julie Chrystyn, a writer, in 2008 and moved to Beverly Hills, Calif., about four years ago, his son, Twin Cities publishing executive Vance Opperman, said.

At a recent get-together at Dwight Opperman's home in Dellwood, Vance noticed his father "was very frail. I was shocked; I hadn't seen him in two or three months."

Vance later learned that his father had been diagnosed with liver cancer but had kept it secret, and that his doctors thought he was cured.

He described his father as a self-made success who "would want to forever be associated with the practice of law."

Opperman was the only member of his family to attend college, enabled by the GI Bill after the war, Vance Opperman said.

Opperman was an accomplished saxophone player and musician and had considered a music career.

"When he got out of the military, he observed that music teachers didn't make a lot of money," Vance Opperman said.

Dwight's father-in-law was an attorney, and "my dad decided law seemed like a more promising field," Vance Opperman said.

His career at West and the sale to Thomson Reuters contributed to Dwight Opperman's wealth. In 2005, Dwight Opperman was listed at No. 375 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, with $975 million.

Dwight Opperman established the Opperman Scholar Program at Drake. He also endowed the Dwight D. Opperman Lecture in Constitutional Law, which has drawn eight present and former U.S. Supreme Court justices to the Iowa school.

Opperman also established the Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award in 1982, to recognize the unsung heroes of the federal bench, Chief Justice Roberts wrote Thursday. "Those of us on the Court will miss his warm friendship, and we extend our deep condolences to his wife, Julie, and the Opperman family."

At Drake, Opperman's most-lasting legacy will be his focus on the well-being of law students, said Allan Vestal, the law school's dean.

Through his scholar program, which provides tuition plus a $10,000 annual stipend to 15 students each year, and his funding for the law library, Opperman made sure the school's students were well taken care of, now and into the future.

"It's not often you get people who are interested in current generations and the influence the buildings will have on future generations," Vestal said.

Opperman made a trip to campus at least once a year to meet with the scholars over dinner, Vestal said, and delighted in hearing updates on how their education was progressing.

"He would remember from year to year what they'd done," he said, "and they, in turn, took a real liking to him. It was like old friends catching up. It was a nice personal touch."

Funeral services are scheduled for June 22 in Glendale Calif., the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation said late Thursday. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy will
deliver the eulogy. A memorial in the Twin Cities is being planned for August, Vance Opperman said.